Tips from PQ magazine

Paper F4

Contract law: exclusion clauses or intention to create legal relations.
Employment law: wrongful and unfair dismissal .
Partnership law: ostensible authority.
Company law: alteration of articles, or formation.
Combined Code on Corporate Governance: application and purpose.
Types/structure of court – the English Legal System.
Civil and criminal law – the differences.
Offer and acceptance – the agreement.
Directors’ duties.
Company formation.
Fraudulent behaviour.
Paper F5

Interpreting financial and non-financial performance measures.
Throughput accounting techniques.
Short-term decision-making techniques.
Divisional performance measures .
Standard costing – variance analysis and operating statements.
Comparing the merits of different budgetary control systems.
ABC.
Forecasting - linear regression, or time series.
Transfer pricing.
Backflush costing discussion.
Limiting factors.
Paper F6

Taxation of employment income.
Dealing with trading losses – loss reliefs for sole traders and companies.
Computing corporation tax liabilities.
Computing chargeable gains.
Self-assessment and payment of tax by companies.
Badges of trade.
Adjusted profit computation and capital allowances for sole trader.
CGT – principle private residence relief.
Personal tax: benefits, adjustment to profits, capital allowances, opening year rules.
Corporation tax: long period of account, capital allowance, property lease, gains of shares, VAT annual accounting.
Paper F7

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income – possible transactions to include depreciation, revaluation, investment property, IFRS 5.
Consolidated I/S and SFP for either 2/3 company groups..
Published accounts.
Cashflow question with report on company performance.
Financial statement interpretation.
Intangible non-current assets including research and development.
Liabilities including deferred tax.
Leasing – both numbers and written aspects.
IASB framework – elements or qualitative characteristics.
Paper F8

Payables – validation of period end balances and cut-off.
Acceptance of appointment – ethical and practical issues.
System evaluation and management letter extracts.
Audit of estimates including provisions and contingencies.
Understanding unmodified audit reports and modified opinions.
Closing review, subsequent events and threats to going concern status.
Payroll audit procedures.
Not for profit organisations.
Internal control weakness.
IAS 570 going concern.
Analytical review as a planning tool.
Threats to an auditors independence.
Inventories or non-current assets.
Paper F9

Economic environment and the impact on interest and exchange rates.
Working capital management – EOQ with discounts and lead time buffer stock.
Management of trade receivables, including settlement discounts and factoring.
Asset replacement cycles and capital rationing.
Risk management of foreign currency using internal and external hedging techniques.
Weighted average and marginal costs of capital and the CAPM.
Business valuations using geared betas and earnings based valuations.
Inventory management.
Complex NPV or IRR with tax

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Added on November 24, 2009, 4:25 am ACCA December 2009 Exam Tips from BPP
F4

Court structures
Offer and acceptance
Contract breach
Employees v independent contractors
Agency relationships
Directors duties
Insolvency

F5

Performance Management (possibly with transfer pricing)
Budgeting including objectives and behavioural aspects
ABC
Pricing
Variances including planning & operating variances

F6

Income tax involving sole trader encompassing profit adjustment and capital allowances and employed earner. Payment of tax details also required.
Corporation tax involving capital allowance calculation for plant and machinery and industrial building allowance. Double tax relief also tested.
VAT default surcharge liability.
Capital gains tax from individual perspective testing gift relief, entrepreneurs’ relief, part disposal, destroyed or damaged asset, exempt assets. Calculation of CGT liability involving capital losses.
Property income
Corporation tax losses

F7

Q1 (25 marks): Consolidated statement of comprehensive income (P&L) and/or statement of financial position (balance sheet) with one subsidiary plus associate (including adjustments for fair values, unrealised profit, intragroup trading, goods/cash in transit, other syllabus area). Discursive part (b) on reasons for adjusting for unrealised profit or other group topic.
Q2 (25 marks): Accounts restatement/preparation with adjustments e.g. depreciation, current/deferred tax, inventory (stock) valuation, leases, substance over form issues, financial instruments (FV change or amortised cost), revaluations, share issues or government grants. May include EPS calculation or movement in share capital and reserves.
Q3 (25 marks): Interpretation and/or statement of cash flows, perhaps with written part on not-for-profit entities. Interpretation may focus on limited ratios and their interpretation (e.g. ROCE and its components). Sections of a statement of cash flows (rather than whole statement) may be tested
Q4 & Q5 (15 & 10 marks): One question in context of conceptual framework; other containing one or two discrete topics. Possibilities: regulatory framework, inflation, earnings per share, government grants, impairment, substance over form issues, leases or intangible assets

F8

Not for profit organisations
CAAT
Corporate Governance
Test of Controls
Substantive Testing
Audit Reports

F9

Working capital: this has always been a favourite theme; questions on inventory management and receivables management are likely here. Make sure that you are comfortable with calculating the operating cycle and explaining the concept of over-trading.
Investment decisions: this exam normally contains a question involving net present value (NPV), often with tax and inflation; discounted cash flow techniques can also be applied to asset replacement, capital rationing and leasing as well and one of these areas could well be tested this time. Remember that you may need to calculate a weighted average cost of capital before you calculate an NPV.
Sources of finance: this is a topical area, we would expect a part question on financing problems covering gearing issues and problems for small-medium sized companies. Ratio analysis is likely to feature here.
Business Valuations: this area is commonly tested and is a core syllabus area. You should note that in recent sittings the examiner has looked to combine different syllabus areas within the same exam question – for example asking you to calculate a cost of equity and then use it to value a company.
Make sure that you are also able to value debt. Finally, you need to be able to explain the efficient markets hypothesis – recent stock market volatility casts doubt on the ability of stock markets to price securities in a rational way.
Financial environment & Risk management: recent exchange rate and interest rate volatility could impact on a company’s financial management plans – a part question on this area could be set, with further discussion and calculations on hedging techniques.